Nancy K. Farber, Ph.D.,
is an assistant professor
with the Department of
Counseling and Student
Development, Eastern
Illinois University,
Charleston. E-mail:
cfnkf@eiu.edu
Conducting Qualitative Research:
A Practical Guide for School
Counselors
This article discusses the concept of school counselor as
researcher. Qualitative research is defined, explained,
and differentiated from quantitative research. School
counselor questions that lend themselves to qualitative
research are explored. The article also discusses the steps
of qualitative research in depth, including developing
questions, identifying gatekeepers, conducting interviews and observations, and analyzing data.
E
mbarking on a research project can be an exciting journey. As school counselors take questions
they have been curious about, and set out on an
adventure to find answers, they begin to see how
rewarding conducting research can be. Yet those
who are new to the process of research often doubt
their competence. When I discuss research assignments with my school counseling students, the initial reaction is frequently one of fear and dread.
Unfamiliar words and terms can be intimidating for
the novice researcher. Even the word researcher,
which implies something other than counselor, can
make counselors feel that they are embarking on a
path that is beyond the scope of their capabilities.
Yet as practitioners, we are all researchers every day.
We study our environments and draw conclusions
based on our observations. We gather information
about students and generate our own theories about
them. We also make predictions and test these out.
In essence, school counselors are researching all the
time.
The purpose of this article is to help you see that
as a school counselor, you, too, can be a natural
researcher. Your eyes and ears can be sources for collecting data. The purpose of collecting data is simply
to inform what you already do. The more you know
about a given situation or problem, the better
equipped you are to apply this knowledge to your
work. In this article, I discuss how one knows when
a qualitative research procedure is warranted, the
definition of qualitative research, and the specific
procedures one uses in carrying out a qualitative
research study.
QUALITATIVE VS. QUANTITATIVE
PROCEDURES: WHAT’S THE
DIFFERENCE?
The first step in any research study is defining your
research question. That is, ask yourself, “Specifically,
what is it that I want to discover?” Once you have
clearly determined your question(s), you can decide
what type of procedure will best serve you.
Qualitative approaches are used when you want to
add richness or thick description to your findings.
Let’s say your goal for discovery is “I want to
understand more about the parents of my students
in order that I may collaborate more effectively with
them.” You then must ask yourself, “What specifically do I want/need to know?” Perhaps your questions
are ones that can be clearly defined and quantified,
such as “How old are most parents in my community? What is the education level of parents in my
community? Which topics would parents be interested in hearing about on Parents Night?” A quantitative approach such as conducting a survey in which
participants are asked to respond to a list of brief
questions will certainly be most time-efficient. You also will be able to include more people in your study.
Sometimes, however, you will find that your question is one that requires a deeper level of exploration
that would necessitate dialogue with parents. For
example, suppose you notice that you have difficulty relating to parents from different cultural groups.
You would like to understand more about what the
experience of that cultural group is like in order that
you may understand, relate to, and work with parents more effectively. Your questions are likely to be
open-ended. You wonder things such as “What is
the everyday experience of people in this minority
culture? How do members of this culture experience
the school environment?” You may not even be
quite sure what it is you want to know. You just
know that you need to know something. A qualitative approach might be in order—one in which you
spend time with, observe, and ask questions of people in order to understand their cultural patterns.
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WHAT DEFINES QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH?
As school counselors
take questions they
have been curious
about, and set out
on an adventure to
find answers, they
begin to see how
rewarding
conducting research
can be.
The distinguishing characteristic of qualitative
research is that it “calls for the investigator to enter
into the lives of the persons being studied as fully
and naturally as possible” (Stainback & Stainback,
1988, p. 1). The goal is to gain an in-depth, holistic
perspective of groups of people, environments, programs, events, or any phenomenon one wishes to
study by interacting closely with the people one is
studying. According to Creswell (1994), “The
researcher tries to minimize the distance between
him- or herself and those being researched” (p. 6).
It is important to note that qualitative procedures
can never be completely value-free. Qualitative
researchers deal with the fact that their own values
cannot be kept out of the experience by admitting
the value-laden nature of the experience (Creswell)
and discussing their own biases and the implications
for findings.
STEPS TO TAKE IN QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
Here, I briefly outline the fundamental steps that
researchers use to conduct a qualitative investigation.
Define Questions of Interest and Concern to You
To reiterate, the first step in any research study is to
be clear about what it is you want to understand.
Research begins with wonder. It is important that
you be truly passionate and interested in what you
study. This will help ensure that you follow through
with your research goals. The first step then is to
define your questions so you know what it is you are
going to be looking for. To illustrate, I will share
examples of research questions that might lend
themselves to qualitative research approaches. These
are questions that both students of mine and I have
wondered about in our work as school counselors.
No doubt you have questions of your own that you
wonder about. Here are the questions:
❚ What is the cultural makeup of families in my
community? How can I better understand the culture(s) of my school community?
❚ What are the thoughts, values, beliefs, and biases
of teachers in school? What accounts for their
varying approaches with students?
❚ What are the communication patterns in this
school? How does information flow?
❚ What is it like to be a student in this school environment? What do students see as problems or
challenges?
❚ How is the culture of my school different from
the culture of other schools?
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❚ How has my group counseling program impacted
the school?
❚ What do students in my school worry about?
❚ What is the nature of community involvement in
children’s lives? What kinds of programs exist to
support children?
❚ What are the levels of teacher morale in my
school?
❚ How do students perceive peer group interactions
in our school? Which groups are the most influential?
❚ What have been the academic trends of my
school?
Notice that the preceding questions are all openended questions. They are not forced-choice questions in which we are expecting answers to fit into
certain categories. While we may have some
hypotheses about what we will find, the qualitative
approaches are used more when we really do not
know just what we will find but rather are interested
in listening, exploring, and discovering meaning in
situations. We use open-ended questions in order to
keep an open mind. Notice, too, that the sample
questions are quite broad. They provide an overarching focus to our study. Within these broad questions, we also will have more specific subquestions
that we define specifically. These subquestions are
what you will use to guide your study as you proceed
through the data collection process. However, in
qualitative research, the researcher remains open to
new questions and hypotheses emerging during the
research process. We go into the process with a specific set of questions, yet we remain open to new
ones developing.
Understand Your Research Instrument
To be a skilled qualitative researcher, it is important
that you become familiar with your research instrument. No matter what you are studying, your
research instrument will always remain the same.
The research instrument is you.
How does the research instrument work? The
research instrument asks questions. It makes observations. It notices things that fuel more questions. It
records its observations. It records the answers to its
questions. It notices its own reactions to observations. You are the human research machine collecting and synthesizing the data.
A term that is often used in qualitative research is
participant-observer. This term captures the idea
that you are part of the study and involved with the
participants. While your level of involvement may
vary, you are, nonetheless, always involved. Because
you are interacting with the participants of your
study, it is important to be aware of biases you bring
to the study. Your active involvement with partici-
pants provides the benefit of close observation. By
interacting with participants and developing relationships with them, you have the opportunity to
learn information that you otherwise would not
have access to. However, you also run the risk of
influencing participants and their responses, so it is
important that you be very aware of yourself in the
process. Before embarking on any qualitative
researcher endeavor, know yourself. Know your values, your biases, and your fears.
Identify Gatekeepers
Once you have defined your research questions, the
task before you is to set up your study. Setting up a
qualitative study begins with relationship building.
It is important to put yourself in the shoes of the
people you will be studying and to think about what
their concerns might be. If you are asking people to
let you immerse yourself in their environment,
observe them, and ask them questions, it is important to first establish rapport with the person or
people who will allow you entry into their lives.
Not everybody will welcome you into their world,
and they have the right to refuse you. However, if
you are honest with potential participants about
your goals, what it is you are doing and why, and
how you will treat the information you gather (a
process known as informed consent), you will be
more likely to gain their cooperation. It is important
to identify the key person whose permission and
assistance you will need to enter into and study his
or her experience. Examples include the teacher in a
classroom you wish to study, the director of a community organization, or an influential person in a
neighborhood who can connect you with others you
would like to interview. In qualitative research, these
people often are referred to as informants (Agar,
1980) or gatekeepers (Bogdan, 1972).
Essentially, an informant or gatekeeper is the person who will allow you access to the places, people,
events, or documents that you wish to study.
Establishing an honest, forthright working relationship with this person is the key to getting your study
off the ground. If you are honest with people about
what it is you are doing and why, they will be less
hesitant to let you in. As Bogdan (1972) noted,
“There is often temptation on the part of the new
researcher to misrepresent himself because he doesn’t feel comfortable in the role of participant observer” (p. 15). From the participants’ point of view,
there is often a healthy mistrust about goals and
intentions of researchers. For example, suppose you
want to study a classroom to gain an understanding
of dynamics that occur in classroom settings so that
you can be better informed to help teachers and students. Teachers may be concerned that you are there
to evaluate what they are doing, and that you will be
passing judgment on them. They may see you as a
spy. While you will certainly have your own biases
and emotional reactions to any given teacher’s style,
the purpose of your study is not to pass judgment
but to observe and learn. It is important that you are
clear and honest with the teacher about the general
nature of what you are studying and how you will
treat the data you collect. Listening to and responding to the concerns of your gatekeeper and participants is an extremely important part of setting up
your study. Your counseling skills will surely help
you with this part of the process.
DATA COLLECTION
Let’s assume you are now clear about what it is
you’re studying. With the assistance of your gatekeeper, you’ve also worked out the details of how
you will do this, what you will be doing, and whom
you will be interviewing. You have received the
green light to begin. Now the fun begins. (Yes, fun.)
What will make the data collection process valuable
is if you totally immerse yourself in the experience
and enjoy the process. Remember you have come
here with wonder, to learn, explore, and discover.
Like Christopher Columbus, you may begin the
process expecting to discover India, but instead you
will discover the New World. Remain open to the
unknown.
Data collection in qualitative research generally
includes two processes: interviews and observation.
Depending on what you are studying, your research
also may include another process that’s frequently
used, that of studying documents.
Interviews
As counselors, we certainly have the skills for being
effective interviewers. We know how to listen, clarify, reflect, and summarize. We are trained to listen
without judgment. We know how to build rapport
and make people feel comfortable. Professional
school counselors have the training and experience
that will help them to be skilled qualitative interviewers. Building rapport is an important component to conducting effective interviews. Counselors
undoubtedly will be able to master this piece of the
process.
Where to conduct the interviews. A question
that people often wonder is where to conduct interviews. When you are asking people to share with you
about their lives and experiences, it is important to
make them feel as comfortable as possible. You are
entering into their world. Therefore, it is important
that they decide where the interviews be conducted.
It does help, however, to request that you have a
space that will assure privacy and confidentiality so
that your subject feels free to share with you.
The more you know
about a given
situation or
problem, the better
equipped you are to
apply this
knowledge to your
work.
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369
The goal of
qualitative research
is to gain an indepth, holistic
perspective of
groups of people,
environments,
programs, events,
or any phenomenon
one wishes to study
by interacting
closely with the
people one is
studying.
How to conduct interviews. Remember for a
moment your experience as a school counseling
practicum student when you learned that you would
be required to tape record your counseling sessions.
You may have felt dread as you imagined having
your supervisor listen to your tapes. Many of us
feared having to ask people to allow themselves to be
taped. But you did it. You have mastered a skill that
will help you in the research process. Tape recording
interviews is an important part of the interview
process, because unless you are gifted with infinite
memory, it will be necessary to record your conversations so that you can later go back and analyze the
“data” from your interviews. In situations where
taping is prohibited, a researcher would need to take
detailed notes and attempt to record word for word
what a subject says. This can be difficult to do while
remaining responsive to the interview process,
which is why taping interviews is so important.
Before beginning interviews, you must carefully
explain to your participants the purpose of your
interviews, and how you will treat the information
they share with you. Obtaining informed consent is
most important to avoid misleading or harming
your participants.
The first steps in conducting any interview are
similar to those you would take in a counseling
interview. It is important to establish rapport, set the
tone, discuss confidentiality, discuss your purpose,
and address any concerns/questions your interviewee may have.
Once you have established the tone, you can
move into the heart of the interview process. The
goal of the interview is to stay attuned to your
research questions and, at the same time, open yourself up to information that you had not anticipated
learning about. Therefore, a semi-structured
approach is best, in which you have a set of questions to be addressed but allow yourself to stay with
the interviewee as the process unfolds. As with
counseling, asking open-ended questions will allow
you to gain a deeper understanding of your participants. Rubin and Rubin (1995) suggested that
counselors conceptualize interviews as “guided conversations.” They stated,
As in ordinary conversations, only a few topics
are covered in depth, and there are smooth
transitions between the subjects. People take
turns speaking and acknowledge what the
other has said. People give off recognizable
cues when they don’t understand and clarify
ambiguities upon request. (p. 122)
It is important to be aware that skilled interviewing often will evoke emotional responses and may
reveal critical problems and concerns on the part of
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participants (Rubin & Rubin, 1995). You may be
the first person that a subject has had the opportunity to talk with about a situation. As counselors,
your listening skills certainly will help you in this situation. It is okay to allow yourself to be transformed
by and affected by things you might hear. That is
part of your process of discovery. But remember that
you are in this situation to learn, listen, and observe.
If you are interviewing about a controversial subject
or topic, it will be wise to gain multiple perspectives
from participants. Hearing both sides of an issue
represented will help you to maintain your objectivity as a researcher.
Observation
Patton (1990) suggested,
The purpose of observational data is to
describe the setting that was observed, the
activities that took place in that setting, the
people who participated in those activities,
and the meanings of what was observed from
the perspective of those observed. (p. 202)
Observations may include descriptions of the participants, descriptions of the physical settings, and
accounts of particular events and activities (Bogdan
& Biklen, 1998). Observations also should include
self-observations. That is, it is important for
researchers to be aware of their own biases that they
bring into any new situation and their personal reactions to these situations. Noticing how one responds
to a new situation can help one let go of preconceived ideas and enter into a process of discovery.
Self-observations include observations of your own
reactions, thoughts, and feelings. They can include
new ideas and questions that have been sparked.
They can be used to formulate new questions.
Observation allows the researcher to collect less
visible data. The observer’s tool is a journal in which
he or she records everything observed that is relevant to the research questions. The question to ask
oneself is simply “What do I notice?” Observations
involve all of the senses. They include what one
hears, sees, smells, tastes, and feels. They are the
“aha” moments of noticing. They are feelings inside
you that emerge. To illustrate, I will share an example of how I’ve used observation in my own
research.
A number of years ago I conducted a qualitative
study in Philadelphia to learn more about the gay
and lesbian subcultures in the community. I focused
primarily on the experience of gay men. My informant, Tom, took me to gathering places in the city
where I could participate and interact with the
members of the gay subculture. Tom introduced me
to men who would be willing to be interviewed. As
I sat among the men in a local entertainment establishment, I observed and noted everything around
me. I remember being struck by a large-screen television displaying music videos of performing artist
Madonna and observing many pictures of the popular singer displayed on the wall. When I pointed out
this observation to my participants, one of them
informed me that Madonna was a strong symbol in
the gay community because she represented freedom to be who you are. The discovery of a cultural
symbol connected with a prominent cultural theme
(freedom to be one’s self) was an important part of
data collection that I would not have experienced
without the opportunity to observe and interact.
Observations allow for invisible data to become
visible. In order to facilitate this process, it is helpful
to take your journal into your setting and immediately record what you notice when you notice it.
Discuss what you notice with your participants.
Allow them to be involved in your research process.
What you notice and record in your journal becomes
the data that you will later analyze.
For ease of analysis, it can be helpful to organize and code your observational data as you record
it. For example, suppose you are interested in the
personal and social development of girls in your
community. Your overarching research question is
“How do the girls in my community experience
themselves in relation to boys?” In addition to interviewing a number of girls about their experiences,
you have decided to observe boys and girls in the
classroom, on the playground at recess, in the lunchroom, and in the neighborhood after school. It will
be helpful to create different sections in your journal
in which you record observations across the different settings. This will enable you to go back later
and compare and contrast observations across settings. Remember, too, that you will be recording
your self-observations as well. It may help to use
some kind of code, such as “S.O.,” to denote selfobservations. Appendix A provides an illustration of
a hypothetical journal page of observations.
Studying Documents
The term document refers to materials such as photographs, videos, diaries, manuals, memos, instructional materials, case records, and memorabilia of all
sorts that can be used as additional information to
supplement observations and interviews (Bogdan &
Biklen, 1998).
Personal documents. Personal documents such
as letters, drawings, journals, photo albums, and
videos are frequently used by individuals to share
and document the experiences of their lives.
Personal documents give us insight into how people
perceive and experience their world. For example,
the way one organizes a photo album and the types
of pictures one chooses to include in the album can
communicate a great deal about that person’s experience. Photo albums tell a story from the creator’s
perspective. Studying personal documents and
recording observations of images, themes, and
impressions that emerge from these documents is
another method utilized in qualitative research.
Official documents. While personal documents
communicate information about individuals, official
documents such as files, yearbooks, employee policy
manuals, academic calendars, student handbooks,
memos, newsletters, and organizational Web sites
can communicate information about an organization. Suppose, for example, that you have noticed
that when you discuss upcoming school events and
policies with students or parents, they often are
unaware of these events and policies. You have
decided to conduct a qualitative study to examine
patterns of communication in your school. In addition to interviewing samples of students, parents,
and teachers about their experiences, and recording
observations, you decide that it will be helpful to
study official documents of your school organization. Studying documents such as the school Web
site, the school newsletter, the student handbook,
and letters to parents may help you to reveal patterns
about how information is communicated.
DATA ANALYSIS
When your data collection is completed, you will
find yourself with data that include a journal of
observations, transcriptions of interviews, and, in
some cases, documents or copies of documents. If
you are like most qualitative researchers, you probably already will feel that you intuitively have many
answers to your questions. You are likely to feel
transformed by your experiences. Your task now,
however, is to take a step back from your data and
analyze it as objectively as possible.
Coding Data
The major task of the qualitative researcher at this
point is to analyze data by organizing it into categories on the basis of themes, patterns, concepts, or
similar features (Neuman, 1997). In order to do
this, one uses a process known as coding that simply
means sifting through data and, as you note recurring themes, patterns, or concepts, labeling pieces of
data to indicate what theme, pattern, or concept
they reflect.
Initial examination of data (open coding).
Strauss and Corbin (1990) used the term open coding to refer to the process of initially perusing the
data and noting themes that are evident. This is a
fun, exciting part of the research process in which
you pull together all the data you have collected,
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371
School counselors
are in an excellent
position to conduct
qualitative research
because they are
right out there
amid the people
whom they might
study.
372
read through it, and have “aha!” moments as you
see patterns emerging. You intuitively will come up
with tentative names or labels for the themes you
observe. There are different ways you can code
(label) the themes observed. Some researchers find
it helpful to use different color highlighters to note
themes. Others find it useful to write the label name
near the phrases or passages that reflect that theme.
A theme may be evident in part of an observation,
or in a paragraph, sentence, or word of an interview.
The goal is to break down and closely examine the
data in order to observe and categorize phenomena.
As we focus in on a piece of data, we compare it to
other pieces of our data in order to see patterns.
Second sweep of data. Because we don’t always
notice everything upon initial examination, it is useful to go through your data a second time to search
for themes you may have missed in your initial
exploration. I find it helpful to think of this as the
“second sweep” one makes of the kitchen floor. You
may think you’ve swept the entire floor, but when
you approach it for a second time, you notice
crumbs you missed the first time. These crumbs may
be an important part of your findings.
Using a team of coders. While, as noted earlier,
a qualitative researcher is never entirely bias-free, the
objectivity of any study can be enhanced by utilizing
multiple individuals to code your data. You may find
it helpful to involve other interested colleagues or
students in your study and use them in the coding
process. Having different people search through the
data to look for themes and then coming together to
discuss findings increases the reliability of the labels
you develop.
Sorting data into categories. Once you have
identified any and all themes and patterns you find
in your data, the final step is to sort your data into
categories. The themes and patterns are the answers
to your questions. They are your findings. The specific words, phrases, statements, and observations
are the data that you draw from to support your
findings.
To illustrate this process, I will use the metaphor
of organizing your closet. Your clothes are your
data. As you passed through your closet the first
time, you noticed categories of items that included
pants, dresses, skirts, shirts, shoes, and other miscellaneous accessories. As you passed through the
“data” a second time, you noticed that the categories could be further broken down and defined.
Within the shirts, you observed both short-sleeve
shirts and long-sleeve shirts. But as you looked
again, you noticed that, even more prominent than
the length of the shirt, you have some shirts that are
quite dressy and others that are much more casual.
Within the pants, you noticed dressy pants and casual pants as well. Upon further inspection of miscella-
ASCA | PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING
neous accessories, you observed two patterns—
clothing containers and clothing accessories.
Now that you’ve finalized your categories, you
can begin organizing your data. So you create a section called “Shirts” and within that section you first
place your dressy shirts. You sort these into longand short-sleeve and then proceed to place your
casual shirts into the casual-shirts sections. You go
through a similar process with all of your data, sorting out items and placing them into categories. You
place your gym bag, purse, and briefcase onto a shelf
you have labeled “Clothing Containers.” You place
your ties and belts into a section you have labeled
“Clothing Accessories.” When someone comes to
your house and asks you to explain why you have
sectioned your closet so, you have the data in place
to support your decision.
Using a word-processing program to sort data.
In the early days of qualitative research, people would
utilize a cut-up-and-put-in-folders approach (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992) in which they used scissors to
literally cut up pieces of data and then sorted them
into folders designated with the category label. In the
21st century, one can easily use a computer to cut
and paste pieces of your data into different sections.
Table 1 provides an illustration of interview data
that have been “cut up” and pasted in categories or
themes that were observed as the researcher swept
through the data. The data are drawn from pilot
interviews that were conducted to examine the
question “How do girls experience themselves in
relation to boys?” As researchers label themes, they
ask, “Do I see these patterns in other places in my
data?” Researchers look for patterns and themes that
occur across both interviews and observations. The
goal is to look for connections and patterns in your
data.
Writing Up Your Findings
How you write up your findings depends mostly
upon who makes up your audience. So you first
must determine with whom you are sharing your
findings and for what purpose. Is this a report you
are writing for the school in order to help effect
changes in the school system? Are these findings that
you want to share with other school counselors and
are planning to submit to a journal? The nature of
your medium will, in part, determine how you present your findings. However, as with quantitative
research, providing an introduction, a discussion of
your research questions, a discussion of the methods
you used, and a discussion of your findings and
implications will allow your audience to understand
what you did, what you found, and how it is relevant
to them.
Perhaps the most challenging part of writing up
your study is thinking about how to present your
Table 1. Illustration of Sorting and Coding of Interview Data for Sample Research
Question, “How Do Girls Experience Themselves in Relation to Boys?”
Theme
Cut-and-Pasted Portions of Individual Interviews with Four Girls
(M, K, B, and S)
Believe that girls have more
freedom than boys
M: Girls can basically wear all types of clothes, but boys can’t. …
K: I can change my mind and they can’t. … It’s a woman’s prerogative to
change her mind. … For example, I saw a show where these people were getting married, and the girl has always run off every time she tries to get married ’cause she gets scared to death. And nobody really thinks anything about
it, and then the guy runs off and they say, “We can’t believe you did that.”
Experience boys perceiving
girls as inferior
B: They think you’re not as good as them. … All the boys were being police
officers and they wouldn’t let us be police officers. … They think we can’t be
police officers because we’re not as good as them … like at sports.
M: Because boys have big egos. … Alisha scraped up her knee and was crying
and stuff … and that’s what I would not call “tough” because she in some
ways is a sissy and I think that’s what boys expect girls to be like. … Girls think
that boys think they’re weaker than them … like Stewart thinking girls aren’t
as good as him … way back when people thought boys were better than girls.
S: Boys think that girls are very stupid … trust me … yes; he said that girls
were stupid.
K: My granddad grew up in a very male chauvinistic family. … He got home
and looked at us and said, “Girls can’t shoot.” It’s like he thinks we can’t do
anything he thinks a boy should do.
Experience boys excluding
them
B: All the boys were being police officers and they wouldn’t let us be police
officers. When we asked why, they refused to give us an answer … felt left out.
M: Way back when girls weren’t allowed to do the same things boys were. …
We used to go play behind his house in the dirt, but then he got involved with
Robert and … he wouldn’t spend any of his time with me and my sisters.
Perceive boys as “weird”
M: It’s like thinking, “Hmmm, I wonder what their brain is like,” and this one
director said, “Do all men come with a manual?” And Alisha said, “That
would make it a lot easier to understand their weird minds.”
S: I think ’cause boys are nutty. … And whenever he saw my dad get the
mower out, he would run. Boys are weird!
K: They’re crazy. They’re nuts.
findings. You may choose to use diagrams to illustrate themes and their relationships. You may use
tables to present samples of your data as they relate
to your themes. You may choose to discuss your
findings strictly in a narrative. Many qualitative studies are published as books. In qualitative research,
there is no one way to present and discuss your findings. What’s most important is that your questions,
methods, findings, and implications are clear to the
reader. I have always found that if I am enjoying the
process of writing, it is more likely that what I am
doing will be informative and interesting to the
reader. It is important to trust yourself and your
own creative process when it comes to writing up
your findings.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
It is my hope that this article has provided you with
a general understanding of how to conduct qualitative research and perhaps even inspired you to undertake a study you may have been thinking about.
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Research in general is a wonderful way to make
important discoveries that can enhance our
effectiveness as counselors. Counselors can make
excellent qualitative researchers. They have developed the skills of building rapport, listening, and
observing, which are the main ingredients necessary
in the qualitative research process. As I noted earlier, when I tell my students they are going to do
qualitative “research,” I am often initially met with
gazes of fear and disbelief. Yet, I am always excited
to see the look on students’ faces as they turn in
their research projects and enthusiastically discuss
with me how much fun it was and how much they
learned and discovered.
There is a great deal that needs to be discovered
in order to maximize our effectiveness as school
counselors. Surely you have questions you ask,
things you would like to learn about that can
enhance your effectiveness in helping students
develop. However, the questions may not be readily
clear to you. To begin the process of clarifying your
questions, it is helpful to notice what you think
about. What do you find yourself struggling with,
worrying about, or interested in with regard to your
profession? As you become aware of what you don’t
know, you have a starting place to set out from on a
journey of learning.
School counselors are in an excellent position to
conduct qualitative research because they are right
out there amid the people whom they might study.
They are natural participant-observers. I invite you
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all to make your own discoveries to share with yourself, your school, the profession, or the world. ❚
References
Agar, M. H. (1980). The professional stranger: An informal introduction to ethnography. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Bogdan, R. (1972). Participant observation in organizational settings. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (1992). Data analysis. In R. C.
Bogdan & S. K. Biklen (Eds.), Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods (pp. 153–183).
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Bogdan, R., & Biklen, S. K. (1998). Qualitative research for education. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Neuman, W. L. (1997). Social research methods: Qualitative and
quantitative approaches. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn &
Bacon.
Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (1995). Qualitative interviewing: The art
of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Stainback, S., & Stainback, W. (1988). Understanding and conducting qualitative research. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research:
Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury
Park, CA: Sage.
APPENDIX A
Example of a Page from an Observer’s Journal
(Observations of elementary school children in the neighborhood)
Saturday afternoon, 9/15, 4:00 p.m.
B, who is one of the youngest girls (age 7), takes charge of the play activity. She leads the other girls
in deciding what the game is that they will play and the rules of the game. She seems to set the tone
of “Let’s take charge.” The other girls follow her lead.
J, the oldest boy, seems to set the tone for the younger boys. He is quiet and listens and
accepts the rules that B and the girls set forth. The other boys are quiet as well and go along with
the rules that the girls develop.
S.O. I am both surprised and impressed by how confident the girls are. I find myself also
feeling sorry for the boys and worrying that they are not expressing themselves.
5:00 p.m.
M, K, S, B, and L (ages 10, 11, 8, 7, and 9) are building a clubhouse.
S.O. I find myself again being surprised and impressed by the young girlsí use of hammers
and nails. I wouldnít have expected that (my own bias).
They tell me that that they are going to name the club “Five Tough Girls” and that they
will invite the boys to join but won’t tell the boys the name of the club. L (age 9) appears to be
taking a leadership role in this effort. She has brought over her father’s tools: hammers, nails, and
saw. She is hammering her part of the clubhouse with great exuberance and might and is very
focused on her task.
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